Hiccup on Rattle, 1996-2005. Performed by an audience, on a series of 8 rattles, 10 copies printed in variable size, serigraphy on building and decoration material. 2 videos: 3’45” and 4’23”. Endowed by Arelec, Joinery Ecker, Engraving Keller, T’Dec, Photomeca et E.G.G.
The main source of inspiration was a series of engravings of Vesalius whose body is being undressed (even though there is not a piece of cloth left to be removed) and whose being is melting in the body on display under the influence of a magical hand that will strip it off like a banana peel.
In fact, there is nothing particularly original in this sequence of events: a child, thrilled by the sound of the rattle in his hand, reproduces this pattern very easily without looking for an explanation. He eventually discovers that his body ends at the tip of his fingers and that the sound originates from the rattle. Yet, he keeps playing with that object. One could think that the hand, which connects the body to the object, is endowed with the power of rearranging what is put on display. My landlord sprained his wrist before painting the shutters once, just like a computer scientist believes in a virtual world manipulated by successive actions on a keyboard. It’s all connected…
Each rattle represents a possible compromise, the negotiations of our social or intimate experience. On that purpose, I have replaced all the possible physical contacts a user’s hand can have with any other object.
Each rattle is to be handled differently according to its shape, the material from which it is made or its personality. You can read it like an open book; you can feel it, you can hold it. It can be a musical instrument, a horn, or an antique object that can stoke the inner fire that drives us or devours us. And since the rattle is primarily a way to handle your voice, a means of individual expression, what you do with it depends on you.